Overdoor



Jan. 13, 1953 Fled Sept. 15, 1948 J. H. M KEE OVERDOOR E'I'AL 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 13, 1953 J. H. MKEE ETA.L 2625221 OVERDOOR Filed Sept. 15, 1948 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 13, 1953 H. M KEE ETAL 2625221 OVERDOOR Filed Sept. 15, 1948 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 J an. 13, 1953 J. H. MKEE ETAL OVERDOR 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 15 1948 Jan. 13, 1953 J. H. MKEE ETAL OVERDOOR Filed Sept. 15, 1948 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Jan. 13, 1953 J. H. MGKEE ETAL 2625221 OVERDOOR Filed Sepc. 15, 1948 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patentecl Jan. 13, 1953 UNITED STATES PTENT OFFICE OVERDOOR James H. McKee, Aurora,and Melvin E. Hartzler, Downers. Grove, 111., assignors to McKee Door Company, Aurora, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application September 15, 1948, Serial No. 49,428

5 Claims. 1

0111 invention re1ates to overdoors and is more particularly concerned with overdoors of the type wherein the door is composed of a plurality of hingedly-oonnected sectons mounted on rollers earried in tracks having "ertical portions on eaoh side of the door opening, horizontal portions above the opening, and curved portions connecting the vertical and horizontal portions.

In the nstallation of overdoors in garages and other types of bui1 dings one of the commonest diflculties encounterecl is the lack of space above the door opening to accommodate the conventional overdoor having horizontal track portions located some distance above the door opening and requiring additional space above the tracks 'to provide for the swnging movement of the upper edge of the topmost door section as th is section is swung from vertic ai to horizontal position. Numerous attempts have been made to design track type overdoors which require 1ess head room above the door opening than that required by the conventional overdoor, but a 11 of such 1ow head-room type overdoors hereto fore developed have had objectionable features which have limited their utility and general acceptanee One of the principal dfliculties with the conventional overdoor has been the difiiculty of chahging or correcting in the field when the headroom is less than reported or less than that foi whioh the tracks were designed.

An object of our invention is to provide a new and. improved 10W headroom type of overdoor "Which avoiois the diflculties of the prior att and "is capable of uni/ersal application.

One of the disadvaritages or the prior art strnctures has been the necessity for using genera lly U-shaped brackets attached to the bottoii corners of the door and secu1ed tothelower ends of the cab1es or flexib1e members oonnecting the door With the counterbalancing mechanism so that these cables or flexible members may be located outside of the tracks. An important fee,- ture of our invention lies in the constructin and arrangement of parts whereby these oab1es or fiexible members can belocated between the edgs new and improved overdoor construction wherei the bottom door section either may remain in the curved portion of the track when raised or can be raised to the full horizontal positionentire1y within the horizontal porton of the track.

Another object of our invention is to provide a. new and mproved overdoor requiring less space than a standard installation.

Another common disadvantage of the 10W headroom type of overdoors of the prior art resides in the necessity of providing special springs for moving the upper end of the topmost door section into doorclosingposition. An object of our invention is to provide a new and improved construction of overdoor whereby such springs are eliminated and the upper section is movedin door-closing and door-ope'ning positions in a smooth and substantially noiseless manner.

Another disadvantage of some of the 10W headroom types of o verdoors heretofore used resides in the fact that the upper section is not held firin1y against the doorjamb with the result that the force of the wind or any other comparable force wil1 move the door to partially open position. Anothr object of our invention is to provde a new and improved overdoor wherein the entire door is held firm1y in c1osed positon.

Another object of our invention is to provide 2 new e nd improved overdoor of the 10W headroom type wherein positive means is provided for turning the topmost section and the space required for such turning is a minimum.

Another object of our invention is to provide a new and improved overdoor Whch is readily adjustable to meet a wide variety of conditions.

Otherobjeots ar id adVantages will become apparei1t as the desoription proceeds.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a partial rear elevation of an overdoor embod.ying our invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view taken on the irregular line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a side view on an enlarged sca1e of the tripper bracket and mounting therefor;

Fig. 4A is a sectional view taken on the line 4A4A of Fig. 4 showing a detail;

Fig 5 is a sectional view of a sheave or idler; Fig. 6 is a partial sectional view on an enlarged sca1e showing the position of the lower section of the door when the 1atter is in a, raised positin;

Fig. '7 is a partia1 sectional view taken on the same plane as Fg. 2 illustrating in greater detail the bracket construction and tripper mechanisin and. also showing the counterbalancing spring locatecl above the door;

Fig. 8 is a rear perspective view of. a further embocliment of our invention utilizing a diierent counterbalancng mechanism;

Fig. 9 is an enlargecl partial perspective view similar to Fig. 8 but showing the position of the upper sectionof the door during the initial opening movement thereof;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view looking in the same direction as Figs. 8 and 9 and showing the door in a ully raised position;

Fig. 11 is a rear elevational view showing in more detail the conventional hinge construction used; and

Fig. 12 is a partial sectional view taken on the line l2-l2 of Fig. 11.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, it, may be seen that we have illustrated therein a multisection door A which is adapted when in the lower or vertical position to close the door opening in a building B. A rail or track C is attachecl to the building B and has a vertical portion in extending downwardly aij'acent one side of the door opening, a horizontal portion 12 located immediately above the door opening and a curveol connecting portion ll. The sections of which the door is constructed may be of any desired or conventional type and are illustrated as having windowsD.

The several sections are pivotally connected to each -other as by hinges I6 adjacent the lateral eclges of the door and each hinge is illustrated as -carrying a roller 2 located in its acljoining track li3. The.lower corners of the bottom section are provided With plates E8, each of which carries a roller 26 located in the acljacent track. These corner plates I8 also provide U-shaped anchors 22 for attachment of the usual pull ropes 24 whose other encis are usually attached to the building or tracks at the sides of the door opening by =any suitable attaching means as, for example, theeyes 2 6.

It will be noted particularly from an examination of Fig. 2 that the vertical portions H3 of the tracks do not extencl the full height of the door opening but terminate a substantial distance below the top of this opening. The curvecl track portions ll which connect the vertical and horizontal track portions are located almost entirely in the rear of the upper doorsection 28 and extend upwardly only a short distance above the top of this section. By reference to Fig. 2 it will be readily apparent that when the upper door section 28 is in closed -position the topmost edge .pivotally connected by a bolt 38. A secondor trolley bracket 43 is attached to the first bracket 3:! and stra p '36 by a bolt 42. In making 'the original installation the trolley loracket 40 can he swung about the bolt 42 to the proper position and then locked in this position by a second bolt 44 which passes through a bore in the trolley bracket ill and an arcuate slot dit in the first bracket 34. The first bracket 34 engages one side of the sleeve 32 on plate 30 and the strap 36 is bent so that one end engages the other side of 4 this sleeve 32 whereby the strap 36 and bracket 34 form a clevice.

The lower portion of the trolley bracket 40 is oiset as indicated at 56 in Fig. 3 to clear the edge of the upper secton of the door. This offset also functions as a stiffening means for the trolley bracket lil. A track roller 52 is mounted on a stud 54 attached to the trolley bracket 40 and this roller normally lies in the curved portion 14 of the track when the door is in closed position as best shown in Figs. 2 and 7. The trolley bracket il also carries a trolley 56 which preferao'ly lont not necessarily comprises two rollers (Fig. 1) mounted on a shaft 58 secured in the lovver end of thetrolley bracket 40.

The trolley 56, as best shown in Fig. 2, is controlled by an auxiliary track cr tripper mechanism indicatecl generally by reference character 69 and carriecl by a tripper loracket 62 bolted or otherwise suitably secred to each of the tracks. This 'braeket 62 is best shown in Figs. 4 and 7 and has bolt receiving slots 64 facilitating acijustment of the braclret reiative to the track so that smooth and quiet closure Of the upper edge of the topmost door section can be assured. An auxiliary track is formed between a gude bar 56 and a tripper bar 58. The upper edge of the tripper bar 68 marges with the inner curve of its supportng track as indicated at 89 and where this merger =occurs the end of the tripper bar 68 is preferably forked and inclinecl backwarolly along each side of the track as best shown in Fig. 4A so that the trolley moves from the trpper bar into the track and vice versa smoothly and noiselessly.

.It is customary to counterbalance the weight of such doors by means of springs or weights and to connect the counterbalancing means to the lower edge of the door .by suitable cables, chains or ropes. In the drawingswe have illustrated such counterbalancing means as comprising a pair of helical spring assemblies 10, each assembly being mounted by a braclzet 12 attached to the track. Each spring assembly consists of a coil spring and cable reel, the latter being indicated by reference character 14 (Fig. 1). A cable '16 is wound on the reel 14 and is con- .nected to a plate I8 attached to a lower corner of the door, the attachment being eifected by turning the lower end of the cable about a grooved anchor member 18 and securing the end of the cable by fastening it beneath the washer carried by a bolt attached to plate I8. An intermediate portion of this cable in the particular arrangement shown passes over the sheave 82 mounted on the tripper bracket 62 and shown in more detail in Fig. 5.

An important feature of our invention lies in the fact that with our new and improved construction this cable is located in the vertical plane -between the edge of the door and the adjacent track so that it is unnecessary to provide -U -shaped brackets or other attachments fastened to the lower edge of the door and extending around the track for securing the lower end of the cable to the door. Such a location of the cable is made possible by the provision of the sheave 82 where the counterbalancing means is located at the rear of the track as shown in Fig. 2. In this connection it will be noted thatwhen the door is in the fully raised position the cable may be out of contact with the sheave 82 bui; located thereabove (Fig 6) so that when the door is returned to closed position the cable engages the sheave 82 and is guided thereby.

' The more conventional location for a counterbalancing means such as the torsional spring and reel assembly 14 is immediately above the door opening. Such a location is shown in Fig. 'l and is just as feasible with our new and improved door as with any standard door provided there is suificient headroom above the door opening for such location of the spring assembly. When the spring assembly is located above the door opening the cables 16 can pass directly from the spring assembly to the seouring plates on the door in the usual manner and will still be located in the planes between the edges of the door and the adjacent tracks.

In this Fig. 7 the dash line 84 indicates the path of travel of the forward upper edge of the upper section of the door of our invention, whereas the dot-dash line 86 indioates the path of travel of the corresponding edge of a conventional door with conventional top roller brackets. A comparison of these two paths of travel quickly and conclusively shows the outstanding mert in our invention in requiring ar less headroom than is required by the conventional overdoor.

It is to be further understood that our novel door is not limited to use with any partioular type of counterbalancing means but is adapted to use with a wide variety of suoh means. In Figs. 8, 9, and 10, we have illustrated a different form of counterbalancing means utilizing a tension spring 88 having its rear end 90 secured to any fixed support and its forward end 92 attached to a pulley 94 over which the cable 16a passes. The lower end of the cable lfia may is shown m dot and. dash lines m a1 intermedate position to illustrate more clearly the small space beyond the track which is needed for the turnng movement of this section.

When the door is in the full open position the lowermost section may remain in the curved track portion 14 as shown in Fig. 6 or may rest in the horizontal track portion I2 as shown in Fig. 10, as desired. In either position the cable 16 or 16a serves to hold the door in elevated position and will re-engage the sheave 82 as the tions of the track or in any other of the numerous ways for accomplishing such sealing. As the upper section is returned toward closed position the trolley 56 engages the tripper bar 68 which is so curved that as further movement of the section occurs the trolley bracket 40 and attached bracket 34 pivot around track roller 52 and gently but positively swing the upper edge of the section 28 into closed positon. In this be attached to the lower corner of the door in the same manner in which cable 16 is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as being attached tots door, or in any other suitable manner, and the upper end of cable 76a is attached to the horizontal track or any other fixed support. A guide wire 96 may pass lengthwise through the tension spring 88 to reduce sagging thereof, the ends of the guide wire 96 being attached to any suitable fixed supports. The use of this guide wire is optional and may be omitted, as indicated in Fig. 10.

It will be best seen in Figs. 2, '7, and 8 that when the door is in the closed pbsition the upper edge of the topmost section '28 is firmlyheld -against the doorjamb by positive means and without the iritervention of springs, wights, or other resilient or yielding mechanism. It is the'refore not possible for a wind or any other sim'ilar foroe to move the door to a partally open position or to disturb the tight fit between the door and edges of the door opening.

When the door is raised the initial movement of the upper edge of the topmost section 28 is a hinged and pivotal movement about the roller 52 and trolley 56 which draws it in closely to the curved portion U! of the track, as shown in Fig. 9. Such pivotal movement is caused by the engagement of the trolley 56 with the guide bar 66 which prevents the trolley 56 from moving upwardly until after the aforesaid pivota'l movement has been efiected 'Il1ereafter, the upper edge of the section 28 swings in a curve closely following the curved portion I 4 of the track so that a minimum of space is required for turm'ng this section from a vertical to a horizontal position. 'Ihis curvng movement of the upper section is under the control of roller 52 in the curved portion 14 of the track and.

the trolley 56. In Fig. 2 the upper section 28 1 connection it will be noted that the trolley 56 is positively controlled at all times properly to regulate the swinging movement of the upper edge of the door section about track rollers 52 and that this control is effected noiselessly and without the interposition of springs or other yielding means.

Referring to Figs. 11 and 12, it will be seen that the hinge construction illustrated therein oomprises hinge plates I0ll and [02, each secured by suitable bolts [04 and IU6 to a.door section. The hinge plate 100 has curled ears Ill8 spaced apart to receive the curled ear l [0 of hinge plate 102. A hinge pin 1 I2 passes through the curled ears 108 and Illl and forms a pivotal connetion therebetween.

A tubular member I M is welded to hinge plate H32 and its ear II as indicated at Ilfi and II8 and forms a socket for receiving the shaft I20 of a track roller I22.

The sheave or idler illustrated in Fig. 5 is illustrative of a wide variety of sheaves or idlers which may be utilized in our construction. This sheave or idler oomprises a pair of plates 124 and. I26 secured together by bolts l28 and supported on a mounting studl3ll. Roller bearings 32 are nterposed between the plates 124 and [26 and stud I30, thelatter having an annular rib- I34 looated between the two sets of roller hearingsand serving to prevent lateral movement of the sheave relative tots stud.

While in the first embodiment illustratd and desoribed the trolley 56 oomprises two rollers mountecl on a common shaft, an alternative'con:

installaton. In fact, our novel door is equal in all respects to the conventional overdoor for use able to all situations.

While we have stressed the utilization of our door in existing buildings with low headroom "7 above the door opening, it is also advantageous with present building costs to provicle a door tsuitable fox new construction having minimum heaclroom and therefore casting a minimum to build.

While we have illustrated and descrbed in detail -only a single embodiment of our invention it is to be understood that our invention is not limited to the particular construction shown bui: may assume numerous other forms and includes al] variations, modifications, and. equivalents coming within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. The combination with an overdocr adapted .to close an opening in -a buildingand .two tracks attached to saicl building, said tracks being positioned adjacent the opening at opposite sides thereof in a plane substantially parallel to the vertical edge of said opening and having a vertical portionacljacent said vertica;l edge, a horizontal portion extending away from saicl opening, and a curved portion connecting said vertical and horizontal portions, of a guiding andpivoting mechanism, saicl mechanism comprising first brackets pivotally connected to the upper corners 2 i o said overdoor, a second bracket secured to each of said first brackets, a track roller carried by each of said second brackets, said track rollers being movable along and guided in said tracks, a trolley carried by each of sad second brackets, said trolleys being located rearwardly of said tracks, a third braoket attached to each track, a tripper bar carried.by eachthird bracket, and a gude bar carried by each third bracket,

said guide bars being located rearw arclly of said tripper bars, said bars being disposed rearwardly of said tracks and arranged to engage opposite sides of said trolleys and curved away from said tracks in a downward drection at a radius of curvature less than the radius of curvature of said curved portion, whereby the trolleys bear against the :guide bars to swing said secontl brackets about their track rollers and cause the upper portion of said overdoor to be guided in -an arc closely approaching the curved portion of said tracks during the initial movement of said overdoor from the closecl position.

2. The combination with an overdoor adapted to close en opening in a building and two tracks attached to said building, said tracks being positioned adjacent the opening at opposite "sides thereoi in a plane substantially parallel to the vertcal edge of said opening and having a vertical portion adjace1itsa'id vertical edge, a horizontal portion extending away from saidopenng, and acurved portion connecting said vertical "and horizontal portions, of a guiding and pivoting mechanism, said mechanism co'mprising first brackets pivotally connected -to the upper corners of said overdoor, a second bracket secured to each of saicl first brackets, atrack roller carried by each of said second brackets, said track rollers being movable along and guided in said tracks, a trolley carred loy each of said second brackets, said trolleys being located rearwardly of said tracks, a third bracket attached to each track, a tripper bar carred by each third bracket, and a guicle bar carred by each third bracket, said gulde bars being located rearwardly of said tripper bars, said bars being disposed rearwarclly of said tracks and arranged to engage opposte sides of said trolleys and ourved away from said tracks in a downward direction at a radius of curvature less than the radius of curvature of said curved portion, whereby the trolleys bear against the guide bars to swing said second loraokets about their track rollers and cause the upper portion of sad overdoor to be guidecl "in -an arc -closely approaching the curved portion of said tracks during -the initial movement of saicl overdoor from the closed pcsition, and during the final movement of said overdoor from opened to closed position the trolleys bear against said tripper bars to swing said second brackets about their track rollers :to cause the upper portion of said -overdoor to beguided in an arm closely approaching the curved portion of said track and to held the upper portion :of said overdoor in closed position against horizontal -forces applied to the upper portion.

3. An overdoor havi-ng =tracks with vertical and horizontal portions and connecting curved portion located adjacent a door opening, a door mounted on rollers :associated with said tracks, said door havi-ng :a=n upper end which in closed position hasits upper edge spaoecl .a considerable distance forwardly of the curved portions of said track, a pair of firstbrackets pivotally connected =to the upper end of said door, a second bracket secured to each of said first brackets, a track roller carried by each of said seconcl brackets, said track rollers being movable along and guided in said tracks, a trolley carried by each of said seoond brackets, said trolley being located rearwardly of said tracks, a third bracket attached to each ofsaid tracks, an arcuate -tripper bar carried by each of said thircl brackets, a guide bar carried by each of said thrd brackets, saicl guide bar being located rearwardlyof said tripper bar, said =guide and tripper bars having a -radius of curvature less than the radius of curvature of saicl curved portions of the tracks are being disposed rearwardly of said curved portons, said bars being curved away from said tracks ina downwarclly direction with the upper end "of the trpper bars substantially 'tangent to the underside of said tracks, whereby the upper edge of said door is positively hinged and piv oted backwardly toward said curved portion of said track so that the upper edge follows the track closely When the door is opened, and, when the door is closed, the upper edge follows the track closely until the trolley passes between the tripper bar and the-guide bar whereupon the. upper edge of the door is positively hinged and pivoted forwardly away from the curved portion of the track and pressed tightly against the .jamb of the door.

1. The combnation with an overdoor adapted to close an opening in a building and .two tracks attached to said building, sad tracks being positioned adjacent the opening at opposite .sides thereof in a plane substantially parallel -to the vertical-edge of -said opening, and having a vertical portion adjacent saiol vertical edge, a horizontal portion extending .away from said opening, and a curved portion connecting said vertical and horizontal portions of a guiding and pivoting mechanism, said mechanismcomprising a pairof first brackets pivotallyconnected to the upper corners of said -overdoor, a second bracket secured to each of said -first brackets, a track roller carrieol by each of said brackets, said track rollers being movable along and guidecl in said tracks, -a trolley carried by each of said brackets. said trolleys being located rearwardly of said =tracks, a thircl braoket attached to eachtrack, a tripper bar carried by each third loracket, and a guide laar carried by each third bracket, said guicle bar being locatecl rearwardly of said tripper bar, sad. bars beng disposed to engage opposite sides of sad trolleys and curved away from said tracks in a downward drecton at a radius of curvature less than the radius of curvature of said curved portions, sad bars being dsposed. rearwardly of said curved portons.

5. The combnaton with an overdoor adapted to close an opening in a building and two tracks attached to sad building. said tracks being po stioned adjacent the opening at opposite sdes thereof in a plane substantially parallel to me vertcal edge of said opening and having a vertica1 porton adjacent said vertcal edge a horizontal porton extendng away from sad opening, and a curved portion connectng said vertical and horzontal portons of a guding and pvotn mechanism, sad mechansm comprsing a, pair of first brackets pvotally eonnected to the upper corners of sad overdoor. said first brackets having an arcuate slot formed theren, a second bracket dsposed adjacent each of said first brackets, pn means pvotally conneoting sad adjacent first and second brackets, a bolt adapted to pass through each of sad second brackets and sad slot of the adjacent first brackets, said bolts 25 beng sldable along the slots when sad first and second brackets are rotated relatvely to one another about sad pn means, means associated with sad bolt to secure the adjacent first and second brackets against relatve rotaton, a track roller carred by each of said brackets, said track rollers beng movable along and guded in said tracks, a trolley carried by each of sald brackets, sad trolleys beng 1ocated rearwardly of sa1d tracks, a third bracket attached to each track, a trpper bar carred by each third bracket, and a guide bar carred by each thrd bracket, said gude bar beng located rearwardly of sad trpper bar, said bars being dsposed to engage opposite sides of said trolleys and curved away from sad tracks in a downward direction at a radius of curvature less than the radius of curvature of said curved portons, said bars beng disposed rearwardly of sad curved portons.

JAMES H. MCKEE.

MELVIN E. I-IARTZLER.

REFERENCES CITED The followng references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNI'IED STATES PATEN'IS Number Name Date 1897,391 Kelley Feb. 14, 1933 2,090146 Pixley Aug. 17, 1937 2276,976 Howellet al Mar. 17, 1942 

